1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an antenna apparatus for a smart phone, and in particular, to a foldable and stretchable antenna apparatus for a smart phone.
2. Related Art
A telephone set in wide use today is known as a standard tone telephone set. The standard tone telephone set is a telephone set which uses a method called a dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) for sending a telephone number to a central office when placing a telephone call. The term "central office" refers to switching equipment that provides local exchange telephone service for a given geographical area, designated by the first three digits of a seven-digit telephone number in the United States of America. A local network is used to connect telephones in residences and businesses to central offices. Exchange area networks are disposed between local networks and long-distance networks.
The dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) method can only be utilized when the central office is equipped to process the dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) signals. Standard tone telephone sets have been replacing rotary dial telephone sets. Standard tone telephone sets include a push-button keypad for dialing. The push-button keypad has 12 keys, which represent the numbers 0 through 9 and the symbols * and #. Pressing one of these 12 keys causes an electronic circuit to generate two tones, each tone having a different frequencies. Hence the name dual tone multifrequency (DTMF).
There is a low frequency tone for each row of keys across the keypad and a high frequency for each column of keys down the keypad. Pressing key 7, for example, generates an 852 hertz tone and a 1,209 hertz tone. Pressing key 1, which is in the same column as key 7, generates a 697 hertz tone and the 1,209 hertz tone. Pressing key 9, which is in the same row as key 7, generates the 852 hertz tone and a 1,477 hertz tone. By using the dual tone method, 12 unique combinations are produced from only seven tones when the 12-position keypad is used.
A cellular telephone system provides a wireless connection to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) for any user location within the radio range of the system. Cellular systems accommodate a large number of users over a large geographic area, within a limited frequency spectrum. Cellular radio systems provide high quality service that is often comparable to that of the landline telephone systems. High capacity is achieved by limiting the coverage of each base station transmitter to a small geographic area called a cell so that the same radio channels may be reused by another base station located some distance away. A sophisticated switching technique called a handoff enables a call to proceed uninterrupted when the user moves from one cell to another.
A smart phone is a combined communication terminal of a cellular phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA). A personal digital assistant can be a small computer system which may include an electronic calendar, e-mail transmitting and receiving capabilities, faxing capabilities, a memory for recording appointments and things to do, word processor software for writing letters and notes, buttons and keys for entering information, a touch-sensitive display for displaying and entering information, connectors for connecting the personal digital assistant with a computer system and a printer and a land-based telephone system and other components.
A personal digital assistant can be a computer system. Computer systems are information handling systems that are utilized by many individuals and businesses today. A computer system can be defined as a microcomputer that includes a central processing unit (CPU), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM), a display monitor, a keyboard, a mouse or other input device such as a trackball, a floppy diskette drive, a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) drive, a modem, a hard disk storage device, and a printer. A computer system's main board, which is a printed circuit board known as a motherboard, is used to electrically connect these components together.
The central processing unit is often described as a microprocessor. The microprocessor is an electronic component having internal logic circuitry handling most, if not all, the data processing in the computer system. The internal logic circuitry of microprocessors is typically divided into three functional parts known as the input/output (I/O) unit, the control unit, and the arithmetic-logic unit (ALU). These three functional parts interact together and determine the power and performance of the microprocessor. The combination of the control unit and the arithmetic-logic unit can be referred to as the central processing unit. Also, the combination of the input/output unit, the control unit, and the arithmetic-logic unit can be referred to as the central processing unit.
Computer systems include a basic input output system (BIOS) which is an especially important program stored in read only memory (ROM). The basic input output system (BIOS) tests a computer every time the computer is powered on. The basic input output system (BIOS) can allocate a computer system's resources automatically, making adjustments needed to accommodate new hardware. Also, the basic input output system (BIOS) governs how system board components interact.
When the computer system is powered on, the basic input output system (BIOS) immediately takes control of the computer system and its components. The first duty of the basic input output system (BIOS) is to perform a series of diagnostic routines called the power on self test (POST) routine, which ensures that every part of the computer system's hardware is functioning properly.
A basic input output system (BIOS) that is stored in flash-read-only-memory (flash-ROM) is vulnerable to computer viruses. Computer viruses include malicious computer programs which can be used to erase information stored in memory. I believe there is a need to provide a method of coping with such malicious programs in order to protect a basic input output system (BIOS) stored in flash-read-only-memory (flash-ROM).
Such a smart phone has an antenna for radio communication. Since the antenna is mounted on the outer side of an upper body of the smart phone, there is a limitation in designing a long antenna, which may lead to deterioration of the antenna efficiency.
I have discovered that there is a need to provide a smart phone with a long antenna that is convenient to use and that is also portable.